How Weird Was Game 3 of the World Series? Let’s Take a Look

LOS ANGELES — Game 3 of the World Series, an exhausting 3-2, 18-inning win by the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Boston Red Sox, was one of the zaniest games in World Series history. Here are some statistics related to Friday’s game that stand out.

2 errors, one by Red Sox second baseman Ian Kinsler and another by Dodgers relief pitcher Scott Alexander, both in the 13th inning, both allowing a run.

6 position switches in the outfield by Boston’s Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr.

18 combined hits.

34 combined strikeouts, tying a postseason record.

0 FOR 28 What Boston’s Nos. 1 to 4 hitters did in Game 3 after those hitters led the major leagues in batting average, on-base plus slugging percentage and runs batted in during the regular season, according to Stats.com. It’s the first time in baseball history, regular or postseason, that a team’s 1 to 4 hitters have gone 0 for 28 or worse, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

0 FOR 8 Boston shortstop Xander Bogaerts’s line.

1973 The last time an outfielder (Oakland’s Joe Rudi in Game 2 that year) threw out a runner at home in extra innings of a World Series game until Cody Bellinger’s 10th-inning throw prevented Ian Kinsler from scoring.

1975 The last time a Red Sox player (Bernie Carbo in Game 6 that year) smashed a game-tying home run in the eighth inning or later of a World Series game until Jackie Bradley Jr.’s eighth-inning blast.

1 Walk-off home runs in Max Muncy’s major league career. His game-ending home run in Game 3 was the first one by a Dodger in the World Series since Kirk Gibson’s blast in 1988.

Call It the Bullpen World Series
The Dodgers had hoped Kershaw could reprise his masterpiece from last year’s Game 1 in Los Angeles. That night, Kershaw held the Astros to one run in seven innings, with 11 strikeouts […]